A Word from Laura: Wearing Red

I will be wearing red the Sundays in June, and I invite you to join me.

In these days when we mourn lives lost – loved ones, victims of violence – we continue to seek God’s Spirit making things right again. Sunday is Pentecost, fifty days after Easter not counting Sundays, when we celebrate the promised gift of the Holy Spirit to Jesus’ followers who had gathered in Jerusalem. Arriving like a giant whoosh, the Spirit gave them the gift of language, so they could speak with those who had come from across the Mediterranean to worship on the festival day. The Spirit was creating community among diverse people; it was a sign that God was at work.

Peter used some of the intentionally inclusive language of the prophet Joel: this Spirit meant sons AND daughters would prophesy, that even those enslaved in this world would receive God’s Spirit, implying that God’s liberation was close at hand. God’s Spirit was still changing the world – still blowing and burning and bringing people together for the sake of life and liberation for all.

The color Christians use to remember the Holy Spirit has particularly significance for Pride celebrations and Juneteenth celebrations, too. I look forward to sharing more about what I am learning as a straight, cis-gendered, white-identified woman.

In the meantime, I hope you’ll join us in-person this week for worship and our Pentecost picnic. Whether you are in-person or on-line, I hope you’ll wear red. When worship, I hope you will see red, not because you are angry, but as a sign that the Spirit is still at work, still creating communities of people who want to join in the life-giving, justice-seeking world God is still creating.

With thanks for the Spirit at work in each of you, still bringing life and breath to the places they are needed most,

Laura